by Drew Lunt
Each month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) files lawsuits and settles cases covering the federal laws they are responsible for enforcing. These federal laws include:
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)
- The Pregnancy Discrimination Act
- The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022 (PWFA)
- The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA)
- The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
- Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
- Sections 102 and 103 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991
- Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)
Below is a list of lawsuits and settlements by the EEOC in from July 16 to July 31, 2024.
Table Of Contents
- EEOC Lawsuits
- Washington: Dollar General to Pay $295,000 in EEOC Age Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit
- EEOC Settlements
- Texas: Altman Specialty Plants to Pay $172,000 to Conciliate EEOC Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Charges
- Oklahoma: Dollar General to Pay $295,000 in EEOC Age Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit
- Florida: Hank’s Furniture to Pay $110,000 in EEOC Religious Discrimination Lawsuit
- California: Fremont Contractor to Settle EEOC Harassment Charge
- Louisiana: EEOC Sues X-Treme Tech Services for Sexual Harassment and Retaliation
- California: Select Staffing to Pay $500,000 in EEOC Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
- EEOC Sues GEM Management For Sexual Harassment
- Walmart Agrees to Pay $75,000 in EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit
- Third Bench Holdings to Pay $165,000 in EEOC Retaliation Lawsuit
EEOC Lawsuits
Washington: Dollar General to Pay $295,000 in EEOC Age Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit
Allegations
Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
State
Washington
Summary
According to the lawsuit, since at least 2017, a male employee at the Richland, Washington, location repeatedly subjected his female coworkers to sexual harassment, including wolf-whistling, leering, and degrading sexual comments about their bodies and appearance, as well as groping one female co-worker in the workplace. He also followed female employees around the store and into the company’s parking lot after their shifts, and attempted to follow one female employee with his car as she left the company’s parking lot. Several female employees complained about harassment by this male employee to their managers and to Fred Meyer’s HR department. Fred Meyer eventually issued warnings to the male employee, but permitted him to continue harassing his female coworkers for years, until it finally terminated him in 2021.
EEOC Settlements
Texas: Altman Specialty Plants to Pay $172,000 to Conciliate EEOC Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Charges
Allegations
Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment; Retaliation
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
State
Texas
Summary
The EEOC found that an Altman supervisor subjected female employees to sexual harassment and a sexually hostile work environment for an extensive period at its Austin, Texas location. It also found that after complaining about sexual harassment, the employees were retaliated against, thereby creating a chilling effect making Altman’s EEO policies and complaint procedures ineffective.
Oklahoma: Dollar General to Pay $295,000 in EEOC Age Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit
Allegations
Age discrimination; Retaliation
Laws Involved
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
State
Oklahoma
Summary
According to the lawsuit, from July 2016 until January 2018, a newly hired Dollar General regional director in Oklahoma harassed district managers who were in their 50s and older by calling them “grumpy old men,” telling them he was building “a millennial team” and they needed “young blood” in the stores, and threatening them to keep up with the “millennial team” or quit or be fired.
After one of the district managers quit and reported the harassment to the company, Dollar General sought feedback from the district managers about the new regional director but did not investigate reports of age discrimination. Emboldened, the regional director continued harassing older workers and fired two district managers in retaliation for reporting his misconduct. Eventually another district manager was forced to quit because of the continual harassment.
Florida: Hank’s Furniture to Pay $110,000 in EEOC Religious Discrimination Lawsuit
Allegations
Religion discrimination
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
State
Florida
Summary
According to the lawsuit, a former assistant manager at HFI’s Pensacola, Florida, location notified the company that her religious beliefs prevented her from receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Rather than discuss the employee’s religious beliefs to determine the feasibility of an accommodation, management ignored accommodation requests then summarily denied the employee’s requests and attempted to dispute the validity of her sincerely-held religious beliefs.
California: Fremont Contractor to Settle EEOC Harassment Charge
Allegations
Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment; Sexual orientation discrimination; Gender identity discrimination
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
State
California
Summary
The worker, who is openly transgender and identifies as queer, filed a charge with EEOC alleging his supervisors and coworkers targeted him with verbal harassment and physical threats due to his gender identity and sexual orientation. He also alleged that he was transferred to new worksites in retaliation for reporting the harassment, and ultimately was constructively discharged because he did not feel safe enough to return to work. The EEOC’s investigation found evidence confirming the alleged harassment and that, despite the worker’s reports of harassment, Superior Automatic Sprinkler Company failed to act appropriately.
California: Hatzel & Buehler to Pay $500,000 to Settle EEOC Age Discrimination Suit
Allegations
Age discrimination
Laws Involved
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
State
California
Summary
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, since at least November 2020, the vice president of Hatzel & Buehler’s New Jersey branch engaged in age discriminatory recruiting and hiring practices when he requested that recruiting companies seek out younger project manager and estimator candidates for job opportunities and then refused to hire older workers because they did not fall within his desired age range. The EEOC’s lawsuit also alleged that the same vice president failed to retain job applicant and hiring-related records in violation of federal law.
Louisiana: EEOC Sues X-Treme Tech Services for Sexual Harassment and Retaliation
Allegations
Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment; Retaliation
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
State
Louisiana
Summary
According to the lawsuit, the female employee was an administrative assistant for X-Treme Tech and her supervisor repeatedly and persistently subjected her to unwelcome sexual advances. His conduct included sending her numerous sexually explicit text messages and images, commenting on her body, touching her inappropriately, attempting to her kiss her, and propositioning her for sex. After she repeatedly declined his advances, he became unfairly critical of her work and fired her.
California: Select Staffing to Pay $500,000 in EEOC Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
Allegations
Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment; Retaliation
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
State
California
Summary
The EEOC lawsuit charged that female workers placed by Select Staffing to work at a National Raisin production facility were subjected to a sexually hostile work environment and retaliation. Despite onsite supervision from Select Staffing, widespread harassment of female workers by managers and employees alike went unaddressed by the staffing agency, the EEOC said. The harassment included frequent unwanted groping, sexually explicit comments, requests for sexual favors, and retaliatory termination following complaints of harassment. The lawsuit also charged that Select Staffing failed to take appropriate corrective measures after receiving complaints about the harassment, instead assuming the client National Raisin would respond, the EEOC charged.
EEOC Sues GEM Management For Sexual Harassment
Allegations
Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
State
Kentucky
Summary
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, GEM Management knew its Stanford, Kentucky site manager reported being sexually harassed, but failed to address it, instead directing the employee to continue working with her harasser. This conduct created a hostile work environment and led the employee to resign.
Walmart Agrees to Pay $75,000 in EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit
Allegations
Disability discrimination
Laws Involved
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
State
North Carolina
Summary
According to the lawsuit, an employee working for a Walmart’s distribution center in Fayetteville, North Carolina, experienced the onset of severe pain due to a neurological disability affecting her right hand and wrist. The employee applied for intermittent leave as a reasonable accommodation but the accommodation was denied. Walmart told the employee she could not return to work unless she provided a full medical release saying she could work without restrictions. Frustrated by Walmart’s continued refusal to allow her to return to work, the employee made an internal complaint to the company’s Global Ethics Office. Walmart fired her nine days later.
Third Bench Holdings to Pay $165,000 in EEOC Retaliation Lawsuit
Allegations
National origin discrimination; Retaliation
Laws Involved
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
State
New Mexico
Summary
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the general manager complained that a company official discriminated against her based on what she believed to be her Hispanic national origin. In response to her complaint, the human resources director investigated the complaint, including interviewing the employee’s husband, who worked with the same company.
The suit said that one day after the investigation began, the general manager was demoted and her husband was fired. Shortly thereafter, the human resources director reported concerns about retaliatory treatment by the same company official who was the subject of the complaints. After she reported to higher management, the human resources director was then also fired, the EEOC said.
